Super Bowl Xliii

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT SUPER BOWL XLIII - PAGE 2

The Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers may be the cream of the NFL crop this season, preparing to meet on the league's grandest stage in Super Bowl XLIII. But 64 seasons ago they were a lowly joint venture, jokingly known around the league as "the Carpets." With many players off to military service during World War II and in an effort to reduce travel and other costs, the Chicago Cardinals and the Steelers merged their human and financial resources. Phil Handler of the Cards and Walt Kiesling of the Steelers were co-coaches.

Injury is not keeping Rashard Mendenhall from playing in Super Bowl XLIII. Injured reserve is. Steelers running backs coach Kirby Wilson said Mendenhall's broken shoulder has healed enough for him to resume practicing and playing. The problem is the Steelers put him on injured reserve in September, ending his season. "He's missing it," Wilson said. "He would love to have a helmet and run out of that tunnel with the rest of his teammates. Unfortunately, he can't, and he might never get back here with the way this league is. Hopefully he'll get many more chances because he's with the best organization in football."

James Harrison gave that play everything he had, leaping over defenders, cutting to miss would-be tacklers and running as fast as he could from one end zone to the other. Then the Steelers linebacker collapsed on his back, flat on the ground, and lay there until he caught his breath. Some teammates called over trainers to take a look, but Harrison was fine. How could he not be? Harrison had just scored on the longest play in Super Bowl history. He intercepted Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner at the goal line inside the Cardinals' end zone with 18 seconds remaining in the second quarter, then ran 100 yards to score on the return.

A fan approached "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney in a hotel lobby before Super Bowl XLIII to ask Rooney why he was there. Rooney, 90, just looked at the man with his patented facial expression of someone who had swallowed a lemon. "You never miss the Super Bowl," Rooney snapped. You never know what points you might miss, such as the most lasting impressions from the Steelers' 27-23 victory Sunday over the Cardinals. 1 Every Super Bowl contender needs a big-play wide receiver.

The newest member of RedEye, Michael Hines, takes his shot at Five on Five. Be kind to the newbie, people. JIMMY GREENFIELD jgreenfield@tribune.com BRIAN MOORE brmoore@tribune.com ELLIOTT SERRANO redeyesports@tribune.com MICHAEL HINES mhines@tribune.com MARC SILVERMAN redeyesports@tribune.com 1. How do you feel after this Bears game? I feel pretty. Oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and bright. Good, but would feel a lot better if they didn't blow the Titans game.

You can debate whether Troy Polamalu is the best player in the Super Bowl, but there's no denying the Steelers' safety is the most intriguing. No one else draws eyes quite like Polamalu, given the way he flies around fearlessly, the way he blows up ballcarriers, the way he plays the ball in the air, the way he makes plays at all levels of the field ... Even the way he wears his hair. Many of those who attend Super Bowl XLIII will follow his every step -- including Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner.

Words usually come easily to the eloquent Tony Dungy. But the recently retired Indianapolis Colts coach who has written three books and changed lives with a career's worth of locker-room speeches struggled to articulate his experience Tuesday in Washington. After taking the train in from a friend's home in Maryland, Dungy sat 40 rows from the spot at the U.S. Capitol where President Obama was inaugurated. The man who made NFL history in 2007 when he became the only African-American coach to win a Super Bowl watched in awe as the country marked a victory he believes no scoreboard could measure.

For a fleeting moment, it appeared Michael Phelps' depravity crisis would blow over, pardon the expression. Granted, when a picture of you at the bong show appears, that is never a good thing, particularly for an Olympic hero. Still, when a British newspaper printed a snapshot of the world's greatest swimmer digging deep into a marijuana pipe, there existed the chance that current events would dwarf his heinous act. After all, evidence of Phelps' foray into crime occurred during Super Bowl XLIII bedlam, the bonus being that Sunday's game lived up to the hype of a pregame show that started Saturday.

We Chicagoans know a thing or two about curses. So when word arrives that the Arizona Cardinals have a curse on them that dates to 1925 and their earlier years in Chicago, we take notice. But while we're taking notice, we're pretty sure that whatever the curse is, whoever delivered it and however strong it might be, it's still amateur hour. Whether you believe in the Billy Goat curse or not, you have to agree the Cubs have been all different shades of awful since William Sianis angrily intoned in 1945 that the team never would win a World Series again.